Recipes

Chosen from The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson, he writes "[This beetroot jelly] is delicately sweet and melting on the tongue. The hroseradish is a nicely fiery foil too."




Serves 4

    500g cooked beetroot, peeled, plus a little extra cut into tiny cubes for garnish (optional)
    750ml stock
    1 tsp caster sugar
    4 heaped tsp agar flakes
 
For the cream

    75g peeled fresh horseradish
    1 tbsp soured cream
    2 tsp sugar
    A little salt
    2 tsp lemon juice
    150ml whipping cream
    2 tsp finely chopped dill

Method

Grate the beetroot and put it into a stainless steel pan, together with 500ml of the stock and the sugar. Bring up to a low simmer and cook, covered for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile pour the remaining stock into another, smaller pan. Sprinkle over the agar flakes and allow them to slowly soak into the liquid, then warm through, stirring occasionally, until the flakes have dissolved, about 10 minutes. Pour into the beetroot pan and stir all together.

Now pour the mixture through a sieve set over a bowl and allow it to drip through. Do not force the mixture or it will cloud the liquid; unlike non-vegetarian gelatine, however, there will rarely be a crystal-clear set.

Now take the beetroot liquid and place it over a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and water. Taking a metal spoon, gently stir the liquid around until it just begins to gel - about 10 minutes or sooner. At this point, if liked, the extra garnish of tiny beetroot cubes may be folded in, but when the mixture starts to gel, it will happen quite swiftly, so be alert.

Spoon the jelly into 4 small glass beakers (best for the look of the thing) or ramekins, but leave enough room for the horserdish cream that will sit on top. Place in the fridge to set for about 1 hour.

To make the cream, finely grate the horseradish - the tears, the tears! Mix with the remaining ingredients except the dill, and leave to infuse for a few minutes, then pass through a sieve into a bowl, pressing down well to force out as much flavour from the hroseradish as possible. Stir in the dill and check for seasoning; it should be nicely nose-cleansingly hot.

Once the jellies have set, spoon a layer of horseradish cream on top and serve. Eat slowly with teaspoons, savouring each mouthful. I like to eat this entirely on its own.